Fiction Wrestling Entertainment
Fiction Wrestling Entertainment, or FWE for short, is a fiction wrestling company. Started in 1983, the company was founded by Olimpio Valant (né Olimpio Di Valenzia). Their headquarters are currently located in the neighborhood of Coconut Grove, in the city of Miami, Florida. FWE currently promotes three brands: two "main roster" ones, Blitzkrieg and RiseUp!, and a developmental one, FTR. The company holds live events and pay-per-views through-out the world, although it mostly holds them in the Northern American continent and Western Europe. The promotion's sole owners are the descendants of Olimpio Valant, the Valant family, currently holding 75% of the shares through the Valant Conglomerate of Cooperatives (Valant Co-Op). The ruling Chief Executive Officer is Gear Valant, who has been in the position since 2008, while the ruling Chief Operative Officer is Silvio Valant, who claimed the position in 2008 as well after vacating the one of CEO in favour of his son. Following an attempted hostile take-over in 2017, Fiction Wrestling Entertainment was pulled from stocks worldwide, with the Valant family buying back the stocks held by other shareowners and refinancing the company. As a result, the "board of directors" and the figure of "chairman of the board" were abolished, and the company went back to being family-owned In July of that same year, during the build-up to their biggest show, CrashDay XIV, FWE announced the "Maecenas Program" to allow popular financing without going back to selling shares of it, in exchange of various privileges. Company's history Beginnings, expansion across Italy, and rivalry with European Wrestling All-Stars (1984 - 1994) The company, founded in 1983 by Olimpio Valant as Fiction Wrestling Europe was created as a way to bring the same sports entertainment that could be found in the United States to Europe as well. What started as a local promotion located in the Abruzzese Pleeigna Valley, in Italy, soon grew massively in popularity, alongside wrestling. After the first few months, important fictional wrestlers of the era signed with the company, and it wasn't before long that FWE had started to tour the entirety of Italy. In July of 1984, the company's first Pay-Per-View, Live From Abruzzo: First Day, was hosted, followed in December of that same year by World at War. In 1987, an early concept of their Royal Rumble match, the High Noon Rumble match, was created, and was showcased to the world during the Battle Royale Pay-Per-View. While the Pay-Per-View was renamed in 1990 to High Noon, the federation still refers the 1987 edition as the first ever High Noon Rumble. Silvio Valant's ascension to the role of President and move to the United States (1994) Long after, in 1994, a few weeks after FWE's ten-year anniversay, Olimpio Valant passed away, leaving the company to his only male son, Silvio Valant. In a move that proved to be history-changing for the company, Silvio went against the opinion of his father's most trusted men, which included most bookers and writers, and moved the company's headquarters from their old location of Rome, Italy, to their new and current location of Miami, Florida, bringing his employees with him, and renaming the company to Fiction Wrestling Elite. Valant will recall, many years later, that they were "seen with hostility by most of Miami... most of Florida, actually, ... with WCW around, they did not trust an Italian guy and his band of European wrestlers." Nonetheles, FWE's first show on USA soil, Wednesday Night: American Dream, was held and dedicated to the memory of Olimpio. After taking a few months to settle into the new context, FWE resumed its' normal operation, quickly growing in popularity in the wrestling-hungry Southern states, who were curious to see "European wrestling" up close once the initial diffidence was passed. Despite this, FWE found itself in troubled waters, alongside the entire wrestling business, in that period, due to the crisis the entire business was facing. What further went against FWE was the lack of talent to recruit, as all major, interesting, or potentially important names had been quickly scooped up by the American-based companies, forcing what would quickly become one of FWE's key philosophies: launching obscure, unproven, niche characters into stardom, taking risks other companies did not dare to do. A strategy that, with a few hiccups, ended up paying off. Partnership with The Weather Channel, Monday Night Cyclone, return to European airwaves (1994 - 1995) In that same period, Fiction Wrestling Elite obtained its' first broadcasting deals with various local television networks through-out the East and Southern Coasts, most famously with Springfield-based KBBL-TV. In this time period, FWE would air two shows: Wrestling Across The Atlantic on Saturday nights, and Rewind on Sunday afternoons. Later that year, Valant would begin, on behalf of his company, one of Fiction Wrestling's most unexpected, yet lasting partnership with The Weather Channel. The channel, barely 12 years old at the time, but slowly becoming a cornerstone of the decade, publicized FWE shows for people to buy tickets for and tune in to, while FWE had them as their main sponsor. The year of 1995 saw two important events taking place: the first being creation of the first-ever weekly FWE television show, in order to not lag behind other wrestling companies. Famously, FWE's creative could not democratically decide on a name, as every proposal failed to gather the necessary majority. Silvio Valant grew increasingly frustrated as the hours passed, and once 8:00 PM rolled around, the CEO, as told by former FWE booker Louise Rodriguez, "punched the table, exclaimed that he wanted to go home to his family, and covered his eyes with his right hand, whilst exclaiming that the first thing he would've pointed at would've named the show. ... That finger ended up pointed at a TV broadcasting The Weather Channel, which Silvio kept turned on as background noise, and then we ended up settling on the name after a lightning fast brainstorming process." That moment was the birth of Monday Night Cyclone, which aired from 7 PM to 8 PM in order to not lose ratings to WCW or WWE. The second important event was the company's return to European air-waves through deals with various networks. Famously, FWE was originally denied a return to Rai's networks in Italy, making Valant turn to Tele Montecarlo, otherwise known as TMC, to air his shows. The partnership proved beneficial, giving TMC some of its' highest ratings ever. Cyclone would air two times, once live on Monday nights at 8 PM (which was usually Tuesday mornings at 2 AM in most of Europe), and then as a re-run on European Tuesday nights,still at 8 PM. A "first" in fiction wrestling that allowed FWE to maintain its' European popularity whilst gaining more in the Americas. Return to Rai, Friday Night LevelUp! (1999 - 2000) By 1999, the company had created a planned agenda of its' events, in order to make the various arrangements for the future shows easier and to give all workers an official schedule, so that if they had to take time off, it could be better discussed and organized. FWE programming also made a "triumphant" return to Rai channels, airing on Rai International (later known as Rai Italy) and Rai Sports, properly cementifying its' status in its' homeland of Italy, as well as various other European countries and even the Maghreb. 2000 also saw Cyclone's time slot expanded by one hour, officially putting the latter half of the show on air at the same time of RAW and Nitro, and the creation of Friday Night LevelUp!, a show that, at first, was supposed to give the company's blossoming mid-card and low-card (mostly composed of video game characters) a space to exhibit their talent and later break out in the higher parts of the card, but quickly evolved into a second show that continued the stories started on Cyclone. 9/11 and its' consequences on the company (2001) Largely untied to events outside its' sphere, the events of September 11, 2001, touched FWE in a somewhat more direct way than other companies and caused it to begin looking to the outside world more. Renaming its' pay-per-views to have less "edgy" and "controversial" names, FWE also gradually scaled its' product, which approached the TV-M rating at times, back. This meant ceasing the use of overly heavy themes in storyline, as well as putting down limits on what and was not acceptable of talent behaviour, both inside and outside the ring, but especially in No Disqualification matches, which had been completely left up to the talent. To do so, some former employees of the company were brought back, famously including FWE legend Ugo Fantozzi, who, alongside Silvio, would revolutionize the company. While most wrestlers quickly adapted, some were "victims" of this process, unable to hide their blatant weaknesses as wrestlers anymore, and either asked for their release or were directly released by the management. Post-Monday Night Wars, Roster Split, CrashDay (2002 - 2005) Its' newfound exposure to the outside led, however, to a massive upswing in 2002, tied to the events of the last year. World Championship Wrestling's collapse, the World Wrestling Federation victory in the Monday Night Wars, and several behind the scenes events caused several talents to contact FWE. In order to not waste an opportunity, Silvio Valant once again went against the advice of his most trusted men and proceeded to sign a great amount of wrestlers. However, it would have been impossible to feature all of them across four hours of air time without pushing aside the carefully created narrative that had been built over the years. The solution came, once again, from the WWF, which had tried to turn Friday Night SmackDown! in a show for former WCW stars: Inspired by this idea, Valant created two separated rosters, named after the weekly shows: these two rosters existed within the same "universe", but told different stories, with different characters. This not only allowed the company to create a bigger interest in watching LevelUp!, but also gave space to already-signed wrestlers who were struggling to create space for themselves. The results of this decision also impacted the belts: Cyclone retained three of the four historical belts (FWE Championship, World Tag Team Championship, FWE European Championship), while LevelUp! would receive two new belts, equivalent to the ones on Cyclone (FWE Tag Team Championship, FWE World Heavyweight Championship), and the other historical belt (FWE Intercontinental Championship), in order to maintain some form of connection to the past. Roughly around the same period the World Wrestling Federation became the World Wrestling Entertainment, Silvio decided to rename his company for a second and final time, becoming what it is today known as: Fiction Wrestling Entertainment. May 7th, 2004 was the beginning of a new phase for the company, as it saw the "official entrance" in the professional wrestling business of Gear Valant, son of Silvio. A still young Gear, a few weeks from finishing high school, made a proposal to his father, the board of directors, and the creative team: a big, WrestleMania-like show with up to 12 weeks of build-up for the biggest rivalries and the greatest matches. The idea was greenlit on May 15th, 2004, the same day Silvio Valant's rented car was involved in an accident from which he walked away without a single wound. As a joke, then head booker Ugo Fantozzi codenamed the event "Crash Day". Valant, despite a well-known dislikes of jokes at his expenses, actually enjoyed the name and, removing the spaces, officially dubbed the event "CrashDay". In the historical press conference where the idea was first introduced, Valant explained that the name meant "day of the crash, ... because that's when the biggest rivals, the past, present and future legends of the business, crash into each other in history-making moments." Hall Of Fame, passing of the torch: Gear Valant becomes CEO (2008) In 2008, in order to celebrate the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the the Fiction Wrestling Entertainment's head-quarters were expanded with an "Hall of Fame" wing, which can be accessed by the public. The first batch of Hall of Famers was revealed at a ceremony the night before CrashDay VII, headlined by Ugo Fantozzi. On the same night, in a shocking turn of events of which no one was informed of, Silvio Valant announced he would've left the role of CEO to Gear Valant the following year, claiming the one of COO once the transition had been completed. Creation of FTR, Internet Era, end of partnership with The Weather Channel (2008 - 2013) FTR Era and international tours (2013 - 2017) By the end of 2016, with new talent arriving from its' developmental program, FTR, Gear Valant triumphantly announced 2017 as not only "the year the transition to a new generation begins", but also "the year FWE establishes itself to the top, alongside companies such as WWE and CCW." However, behind the scenes, the company was beginning to accumulate debt, a result of past loans whose payment was constantly pushed back and, as a result of interest, became heavier with each passing month on the company's finances. Combined with a general downswing in the business around this time, the expenses, combined with the debt, finally surpassed the net gain at the end of the 2016 fiscal year. Not willing to cut losses, Gear Valant announced that up to forty-nine percent of the company would have been put up for sale on international stock markets, up from the original twenty-nine percent Silvio had put up for sale in 2002. Near bankruptcy, reboot, and second wind (2017) In January of 2017, Silvio Valant ended up hospitalized following a heart attack. As news broke out, the new share holders attempted an hostile take over of the company, pushing and slandering the Valant family in order to make them sell their majority stake. The two events, combined with the revelation of FWE's financial status, caused the stock's value to plummet, futher pushing the company into debt and causing the title to be frozen in stocks. This caused FWE to suddenly cancel its' shows for the foreseeable future, refunding tickets as per policy. In this situation, payments were frozen, including wrestlers' pay-checks. An important amount of both developmental roster and main rosters rescinded their contracts as a result and left. Forced to undergo a shutdown, the company's future was more uncertain than ever. Gear Valant, after Silvio underwent surgery and was officially out of danger and healthy again, immediately took the matter into his hands. Pulling from his own financial wallet, and selling most of his belongings amongst shares, buildings, art pieces, collector's items and such, as well as taking out a loan tied to his personal bank account, Valant managed to pay back the company's debt. Further support came from the remaining roster members, the international fan base, and his expanded family. By January's end, the Valant family bought one-hundred percent of the company's shares back, recovering full ownership of the company. After more than a month of silence, a special Fiction Wrestling Entertainment show was held on February 15th, 2017, in its' home city of Miami, Florida. In front of a sold-out crowd of 7,500 fans, and with a near-record shattering 5,2 Nielsen rating (A near twenty-five million people tuned in worldwide), Gear Valant announced the beginning of a new era, with two new shows: Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg (Replacing Monday Night Cyclone) and Friday Night RiseUp! (Replacing Friday Night LevelUp!). Moreso, due to the numerous walk-outs, changes in plans, and new rosters, the belts would have had to be vacated in order to create a level playing field. In particular, in an emotional moment, the FWE European Championship was retired and replaced with the FWE Television Championship. To end his announcement and officially begin the special, Valant announced that there would have been several call-ups from FTR, as well as unexpected returns to the company, before allowing Silvio Valant to come out to a loud ovation. What is, by all means, considered the first-ever episode of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg was enough of a success and brough in enough money for FWE to pay most of the paychecks that were still owed. The company quickly picked up the pace from there, succesfully heading back to Italy for Springtime for Italy 2017 and confirming the Road to CrashDay XIV would have taken place as planned, and there would have been no downgrade the "Grandest Stage In European Pro Wrestling" with a now-stable and much more adapt budget to "put on a show worth CrashDay's legacy". Following the thirtieth annual High Noon, Fiction Wrestling Entertainment and the Valant family paid back all of their remaining debts in full, and the company was officially considered out of danger. Starting from July 2017, the company has started to try and distance itself from other companies to avoid paying royalties over copyrighted terms that weren't free domain, and to further craft a more distinct identity for itself. In particular, the High Noon Rumble was retroactively renamed "Showdown at Sundown", while the company created its' own Elimination Chamber-like structure, baptising it "Heart of Darkness". Big 6, deals with independent companies, and faction wars (???) Following CrashDay XIV, which was the most financially successful event in the company's history, Fiction Wrestling Entertainment was officially, and "surprisingly" according to the company's brass, listed amongst the six biggest fiction wrestling companies. As of 2017, the most critically acclaimed event in FWE history remains the second edition of CrashDay, hosted in 2005 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida (then known as Dolphins Stadium), which featured an 18-year old Gear Valant wrestle alongside his father in a Tornado Tag Team Match against a rookie Carl Johnson and Squid Adler, Skull Man starting his CrashDay winning streak after defeating Caleb Reece, Crash Man retaining his World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match and Kurt Wylde retaining his FWE Championship in a match against High Noon Rumble winner Gus. Championships and Accomplishments 'Current Champions' *The belts are defended under Freebird Rules 'Other accomplishments' Pay-Per-View Agenda Current Rosters 'Blitzkrieg' * The Angry Video Game Nerd * El Presidente * Ian Hecox * Anthony Padilla * Hale * PewDiePie * Aries * EOW: BLADE-7 * Inspector * Shielder * Philip J. Fry * Applejack * The Nostalgia Critic * Tommy Vercetti * Metal Man * Diablo * Jimmy Hopkins * Switzerland * Hacker * Marcello Ricci * Slick * Ty Durrant * Freekill * Psycho * Colin * Richard Rawlings * Aaron Kaufman * Texas * Spynum * Mr. Torgue * Pierce Washington * Brick * Silver Neelsen * Wildcard * Prussia * Daxen * Remi * Chris * Matt * Mike 'RiseUp!' * Capricorn * Black Mage * Vlad * Emao III * Lish * Skull Man * Dead Sea * Saxton Hale * Big Bandit * Trixie * Demyx * James Wilson * Aleks Merchant * Dexter Manning * Homer Simpson * Carl Johnson * Bender * Twilight Sparkle * Dio * Italy * Flash Man * Bit * Jack Cayman * Alex Taylor * Nathan Cross * Wolf * Neville * Sal Mustella * Rarity * Cuba * Camper * A-Mach * "Herr" Frederick von Twirlenkiller * Zebulon * Lamar Davis * PFS Venom * Magic Man * Steve * Killbane * Mira * Lil' Hunter Tag Teams and Stable * Smosh (Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla) * The I.D.P.D (Shielder and Inspector) * The Counter-Strike (Freekill and Psycho) * Gas Monkey Garage (Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman) * Guns n' Bombs (Daxen and Remi) * The Lodge Survivors (Chris and Matt) * The Trinity (Vlad, Emao III and Lish) * Team Detrix (Demyx and Trixie) * The Crew (Neville and Sal Mustella) * Los UnCensurados (Cuba and PFS Venom) * The Gold Aces (Black Mage, Big Bandit, Diablo and EOW: BLADE-7) 'Other On-Screen Personnel' * Gear Valant (CEO and General Manager of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg) * Jim Ross (Play-by-Play Commentator of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg) * Michael Jones (Color Commentator of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg) * Portugal (Backstage Interviewer of Wedensday Night Blitzkrieg) * Magnolia (Ring Announcer of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg) * James May (General Manager of Friday Night RiseUp!) * "Admiral" Bahroo (Play-by-Play Commentator of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg) * Mr. Monogon (Color Commentator of Wednesday Night Blitzkrieg) * Lotus (Backstage Interviewer of Friday Night RiseUp!) * Xander Mobus (Ring Announcer of Friday Night RiseUp!) Trivia Category:Fictional Wrestling Companies